​
Kerry ONeal
writer/author
​
What If - An Anthology of 13 Short Stories is now available online through Ingram, Xlibris, Amazon.com, Books A Million, and Baker & Taylor in three formats:
-
Paperback ( suggested retail @ $ 23.99)
-
Hardcover (suggested retail @ $ 34.99)
-
E-book (suggested retail @ $ 3.99)
-
Availability in your local bookstores such as Barnes & Nobles and Books A Million will be determined by each book store location across the country, at a later date.
​
​
​
​
Contents
A ghost is referred to in various terms, including apparition, specter, phantom, spirit of the dead, spook, soul, wraith, and shadow. But do they actually exist? And if so, why do they haunt some of us, and not others? There are numerous accounts throughout history, where some believe that a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person, or animal that appear to the living. The skeptics scoff at the idea of ghosts, and can be explained by psychology, misperceptions, mistakes, and frauds. But what if there’s another explanation. What if it involves something dark, and sinister?
​
An old English proverb states "A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays".
Nine is also a magic number, and this could be partly why cats are attributed with having nine lives, because they have been both worshipped and feared throughout the ages for being magical. The ancient Greeks said that the number nine referred to the trinity of all trinities- and is a mystic number which invokes tradition and religion.
Some people believe in the superstition that cats have nine lives, because cats may survive falls from high places with few, if any injuries. This gives the appearance that some cats return to life after sustaining a fatal accident.
Wonder if they’re all correct assumptions, or wonder if it means something completely different? This story is for cat lovers and being one, writing a story about a cat, every cat person should be able to relate to this story.
I hope you enjoy reading this, as much as I enjoyed writing it.
​
Spoken Language is language produced by articulate sounds, as opposed to written language; communication by word of mouth; no written form of language available. Spoken Language tends to be full of repetitions, incomplete sentences, and single words to express something.
Communication between various languages can be challenging, and misunderstanding the interpretation of a language has started many arguments, and even wars, but can you imagine if you could only speak a spoken language, and nobody else understands what you're saying?
This is a story where ‘Spoken Language’ is the only form of communication after replacing the English language, leaving a young boy alone, with no way to communicate. With anyone!
​
​ This is a story about a man who has to confront his dream to get his life back, or die trying. We all dream, according to the experts that REM (rapid eye movement) occurs every ninety minutes, which translates to a dream; whether we remember it, or not. Some people dream in color and some say they only dream in black and white, and yet, some say they never dream at all, but we all dream. Being chased, flying, drowning, falling, and a long list of other shared ways we dream have been interpreted by the “dream experts” attempting to explain what they may mean, but it’s not solid science. Based on an actual nightmare I had over 20 years ago, it's the type of dreams we've all experienced. A nightmare we wish we never had, or a dream we wished was real.
​
A story about Angie, a woman traveling down a lonely stretch of desert highway, reflecting on her past. After not seeing any other vehicle for hundreds of miles, she passes a car on the highway. The same car she's driving, the same color, and the driver, is herself. Going the other direction, it's Angie, who made another decision in the past that brought her to the same point in life, where she’s also reflecting on her past. After they pass each other, both brake lights come on, as they both look in the rearview mirror. Looking back, and each thinking, if she could, would she go back, and take the road in her life?
​
​
​
A young boy, who's life involves abuse at home, develops a strong friendship with a quiet elderly Italian man living alone, a few houses away, which becomes an eternal bond of friendship beyond life.
A different type of a ghost story!
​
We have all established important dates throughout our lives, including birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, vacations, and various dates imprinted in our minds that continue to affect us as either a happy event or a tragic memory that gives us personal pain every year. There isn’t a single person in history who hasn’t experienced a specific date in his/her life, that can continue to affect them annually, but there is a date in everybody’s life, that once it arrives, we never experience it again. And that’s at the end of our life when we die.
The question then becomes, if you had the choice to be told when you’re going to die. The final day of your life. Would you choose to know? A story about a man who didn't have a choice.
A story out of today's headlines with the concerns of diseases spread by mosquitoes like the Zika virus, and the mishandling of medical waste, but this is a work of fiction. The truth may very well be more frightening. A sci-fi thriller, about global terrorism, bio-warfare, DNA and RNA gene splicing, biological mutation, for world domination. What if the technology exists now, or in the near future, when nature is used as a weapon, for global domination?
A musical prodigy is someone whose talents is recognized at an early age - "Mozart was a child prodigy." This is a story about a boy, whose musical genius is recognized immediately after birth, but his genius holds a deep secret, yet to be revealed.
​
This is a story about a little girl. An average twelve-year-old girl, who wishes her Mom’s dream would come true. A little girl who makes wishes as we’ve all done, from blowing out candles on a birthday cake, to making a wish when we see a shooting star. Making wishes have originated from around the world throughout history in various cultures, leprechauns from Ireland, genies in a bottle from the ancient Middle East, and throwing coins in a wishing well came from European folklore. And everyone can remember breaking a wishbone to get their wish, which actually dates back to the Etruscans, an ancient Italian civilization. Why can't wishing also be associated with praying.? After all, isn’t praying just wishing, directed at a particular being? There are those that would argue there is no comparison, but if a prayer is answered, isn’t it a wish that comes true?
I think that there are always things we each think about we’d like to do, places to go, and people we'd like to say goodbye, before our time is over in this world. This story expresses how powerful the human mind is capable of, and can sometimes accomplish anything when you utilize the mind’s full potential. This is a story of love, relationships, a lost romance, friendships, life's tragedies, and hardship, and the will to enjoy every day of her life. Wilma makes a decision to complete her bucket list, and nothing is going to stop her. Nothing!
A teenage girl, alone at home, is terrified for three days when she is confronted with unusual knocking, footsteps, shrill noises, and scratching in the walls. She was looking forward to her alone time, while her mom and brother are gone, but she feels assaulted by uninvited guests. There was a suicide decades ago in the house, and then she starts experiencing signs of poltergeist activity. Scared to death and feeling trapped, imprisoned in her own house, she wishes that her Mom and brother would come home.
Rick Gardner sits in prison serving a 5-life time sentence, for an unspeakable slaughter of an entire family, over 45 years ago, which he's always denied doing. His new 18 year old cell mate, Jeremy Moody, who begins his life term sentence for killing his own parents, may hold the key to the truth.
New Books released
A cursed werewolf in the middle ages during the bubonic plague who is chosen to be Alpha of the evolved predator & lead the werewolves of Europe. Includes vampires and gargolye's
Click red button to order
for $ 9.99 in paperback
or Kindle for $ 3.99
6 stories about inspiration: includes 4 stories from What If + 2 unpublished stories
(The Third Choice &
A Dog's Life) retails at
$ 12.99 in paperback on Amazon.com
​
​
Click red button ot order
​
4 horror stories re-released from "What If" just in time for halloween
at the low cost of $ 9.99 in paperback on Amazon.com
​
​
​
Click red button to order
A man wakes up and after taking a shower, he see's the last day of his life written on the steamy shower door, 5 1/2 years in the future. What would you do, if you knew when you were going to die?
​
Click on the red button to order your copy on Kindle or in paperback.